Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Mayor Dan Coody, Leadership Moment Lost

The Fayetteville City Council has asked Mayor Coody to submit a budget that doesn't spend more than the collected revenue. There is an anticipated shortfall of $535,400. Paul Becker, finance and internal services director, reported:

Most of the increased expenses are for personnel costs, fuel increases and increases in technology contracts, such as computer program updates,

Mayor Coody, who is running for re-election, decided that he wasn't going to be the bad guy. There may be cutting of some services or programs which may make some people unhappy. So, Mayor Coody took the coward's way out. He pushed it onto the City Council to make the cost cutting decisions.

"That's the job of the City Council, is to amend and approve the budgets. We will present to you what we think is the best. You can go back through there and cut programs, raise taxes, change things around. By law, that's your job,"said Coody.

One of Mayor Coody's mayoral opponents is Lioneld Jordan. Lioneld will be one of the aldermen who are going to have to make those decisions. Mayor Coody will have an opportunity to attack Lioneld for any cost cutting measures he proposes or supports. Lioneld could turn it back to Mayor Coody, by noting that instead of stepping up as a leader in hard times he delegated it to the City Council. It was the City Council who took on the leadership role that Mayor Coody abandoned.